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Betsy's Backyard Blog

Betsy Freese is an Executive Editor for Meredith Agrimedia, including Living the Country Life and Successful Farming. She grew up on a fruit farm in Maryland (see www.strawberryfarm.com) and has an agricultural journalism degree from Iowa State University. She and her husband, Bob, a veterinarian, live on a farm in Iowa where they raise sheep, hay, corn, and soybeans.

My gladioli (or gladiolus or just glads) are late this year, but lovely. I planted a random assortment of colors all over my garden, a few bulbs every few days here and there, marking them with flags. Each evening after work I go out and cut the ones that are blooming, arranging them in various vases. I don't dig the bulbs in the fall and store them overwinter -- I did that once and they bloomed poorly the next year. I buy new bulbs each spring. It's worth it.

My peaches are huge this year! The variety is Reliance. It is a cold-tolerant, self-pollinating peach developed in New Hampshire that produces a heavy crop of fruit even after frigid winters. Peaches are medium to large with a sweet, mild flavor.

I made peach cobbler on Sunday and it didn't last long. My only complaint is all the tiny fruit flies in my kitchen right now. You can't blame them for wanting a taste of these peaches. I hope to plant another tree in November or next spring.

This week has been one to count our many blessings. Nowlan graduated from Clemson University with a PhD in biology -- we have another Dr. Freese in the family! He arrived home for a visit, bringing his cat, Rin. She will stay with us while Nowlan and his wife, Danny, live in Germany. Danny is working on her PhD at the Max Planck Institute.

Bob and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary yesterday with a small party of family, friends, and neighbors. I debated taking a trip or going out to eat at a fancy restaurant, but decided there was no place better than home. Good call!

I'm remembering fondly the folks who traveled from Iowa to Maryland 30 years ago today to celebrate our wedding, including Barb Freese, Grandma Nowlan, Grandma Freese, Aunt Bert, and more. Also, the support and love from my PopPop, Grandma Ewing, Ruth Johnson, Nana, and many more who are not here now. We were so young, poor, and naive. It takes a village!

Nowlan's suitcase was full of cat gear. I told him I didn't have that much gear for three kids.

The Iowa State Fair is in full swing this week. Caroline was working for the Iowa Sheep Industry Association selling lamb, so I popped over to annoy her. Here are a few things I encountered along the way.

I thought I was ordering a caramel apple, but got this Caramel Apple Funnel Cake instead. It's new to the fair this year and features apple cake batter with caramel sauce. Too sweet for me.

This was only the second-largest boar at the fair. The Big Boar wasn't as animated as this guy.

While I was in Buffalo, New York, last weekend with Ag Media Summit, I visited Niagara Falls. If you haven't been there, go. From the American side you can get right next to the water. To get the best view, take a ride on Maid of the Mist or visit the Canadian side. My sister, Molly, joined the fun. We also took a tour of farmland in Upstate New York. It's beautiful country.

Molly and I on the Maid of the Mist boat in front of the American Falls, the ones with the rocks.

This is Horseshoe Falls with Canada on the right. A few people have survived a trip over these.

The American Falls are in front, tiny Bridal Veil Falls in the middle, with Horseshoe Falls in the distance.

This was an amazing view of the American Falls. You see the water coming right down at you as you walk up the stairs.

I just edited reader entries for a Funny Animals photo contest and decided to show you some of my own photos from the past week.

The county fair always provides plenty of funny animals, and by that I mean humans. This horse wandered the fairgrounds for four days. I posted the photo on our Facebook page and got lots of captions from readers. My favorites:

Deep-Fried Hay on a Stick, please.

Howdy neigh-bor! I'd like an apple with a side of horseradish.

Can I get a funnel cake with extra sugar? Hold the cake.

Hay! Quit horsing around and give me my corndog!

I would like a wheat grass smoothie please!

This crossbred gilt was the grand champion market hog at the Warren County Fair. Also impressive: Her "eyebrows."

Caroline and Mario watched the hot air balloons from the front porch last night. Then she tried to pick him up.

Our town is hosting the National Balloon Classic this week, which means mornings and nights where 100 balloons fly over our small farm, scaring the sheep. I was in the garden the first morning they went up and the newly-weaned lambs raced back and forth in their pen, crashing into fences. We quickly threw some hay in the feeders to distract them.

The balloons are beautiful as they glide over our pastures. Here are some photos. Come to Indianola and see them!

The vegetable show was the big attraction at the Warren County Fair last night. No it wasn't -- that was the figure eight races. But there were some anxious moments as judge Barb Osborn, Iowa State University, placed the top three entries in white and red potatoes. My red potatoes won the class! Whew.

Here are tips on showing veggies.

Never let your zucchini get this big unless you are entering a giant zucchini contest. MIne weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces and placed third out of five.

The ideal zucchini size for show is 8 inches long, uniform width and color with no blemishes. The plate third from bottom won this class easily. I placed third.

You can see the beets in the background. My beets were smaller, golfball-sized, and won the class. Large beets can be woody.

The key to onions is not size as much as condition. Pull onions two weeks before show time and let them cure. If the stems aren't dry at the show they won't do well. The largest onions here did not place because their stems were green and wet. My plate (bottom middle) placed third. They were very small, but dry.

I won the largest potato contest for the second year in a row with this 10-ounce spud, but it was nothing compared to last year's giant at 1 pound, 1 ounce.

I also won with my red cabbage and peaches. A key to cabbage is keeping a few outer leaves for display, as long as they don't have insect damage . Size matters, but one cabbage was so big it split -- a no-no.

The vegetable contest at the county fair is tonight, so I've been digging potatoes. The red spuds are the best I've ever seen, but my white potatoes and onions are late and small. I'm entering Brussels sprouts for the first time. I found that it takes a lot of plants to harvest five uniform, firm, large, sprouts free from insect damage.

My other first-time entries are beets and zucchini. I talked to a seasoned gardener at the fair last night to get his tips on what to select. Here they are:

1. Zucchini should be no more than 8 inches long. Cut the stem long and even. If you harvest the night before the show, keep in a plastic bag in the fridge.

2. Beets can be as small as a golfball and no bigger than a baseball. They must be the same shape and size. Leave the taproot on, but trim the leaves to 2 inches.

3. Select your entries by lining them up from largest to smallest. Choose the five closest in size. Don't be afraid to select five that are smaller. It's all about uniformity.

Good luck at the fair!

I lined up these potatoes on a towel on the living room floor last night from largest to smallest and picked the five closest in size.

You don't want WOODY beets!

My kohlrabi looked great earlier (above), but got too big and woody by the fair.